Beam driving mechanism for slashers



Aug. 13, 1946.

A. E. slLco'x v 08 BEAM DRIVING MECHANISM FOR SLASHER Filed April 18, 1944- s Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 13, 1946. A. E. slLcox I BEAM DRIVING MECHANISM FOR SLASHER Fil-ed April 18, 1944 Sheets-Sheet 2 u 1946; A. E. s uQcoX' M35308 BEAM DRIVING MECHANISM FOR SLASHER Filed April 18, 1944 .3 Sheets-Sheet s Patented Aug. 13, 1946 UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE BEAltI DRIVING MECHANISM FOR SLASHERS Arthur E. Silcox, Biddeford, Maine, assignor to Saco-Lowell Shops, Boston, Mass, a corporation of Maine Application April 18, 1944, Serial No. 531,583

9 Claims.

rate at which it is delivered by the size rolls. al v shiftin th d v from one m a m to However, the loom beam on which the yarn is the other at an intermediate point in the building wound immediately after leaving the delivery roll of the yarn body on the beam. Thus the slip and must revolve at a constantly decreasing speed the resultant amount of heat created and of Wear as the diameter of th yarn body n it i r produced on the friction surfaces, will be main- For this reason, while the size and delivery rolls tained within reasonable limits in both mechaare positively driven, the loom beam is driven nisms. through a friction mechanism so. arranged that, Referring fi to the 100m beam is as the pull exerted on the yarn by it tends to indicated at 2, supported on an arbor 3, one end crease with an increase in the diameter of the of which extends loosely into the driving shaft beam, the friction mechanism yields or li 4, while the other end is mounted in the usual sufficiently to prevent the loom beam from remanner n a hole in a Shaft supported at the 0D- volving any faster than is necessary to tak up posite side of the machine. The arbor carries an the yarn fed to it by the delivery roll. arm 5 arranged to engage a stud 6 secured in a In such an arrangement there is Very little face plate 1 which is fixed on the driving shaft slippage in the friction driving mechanism for a he e connections servin t r ve h m time immediately after the winding of the yarn in unison with its driving shaft. on the loom beam starts, but as the yarn body The usual mechanism for revolving this shaft gradually builds up, the speed of the beam arbor comprises a gear 8, Figs. 1 and 2, meshing with slows down, with a corresponding increase in the another gear l0 fast on a shaft l2v and driven amount of slip in the friction mechanism, by a pinion i3 on the shaft M, Fig. 2. This The modern tendency to use beams with larger Shaft t2 drives the delivery r l 9 nd its drivin heads, and thus to build up yarn bodie on the pinion i3 is connected with the mechanism for of greater diameter, creates co diti in which driving the size rolls at the same surface speed e slippage becomes very high as the i i as the delivery roll, for the reasons above deoperation on the beam nears completion, with scribedthe result that the friction mechanism overheats Keyfed h Shaft 4 are the sectlon? of and the friction plates are subjected to excessive two fnctlon disks and The geat' wean ever, revolves freely on igiese hub SeCt]l0nS,1atl'd it carries in rotation wit it two circu ar p a s The present Invention. qeals h problem aand I), both lying close to the inner surfaces presented by these conditions and it aims to de- 40 t1 f 1 t '5 d '5 O t vise a driving mechanism for the loom beam in Cir 16 respectlve nc Ion p a es an u I which the tem side the latter plates are two additional disks i1 perajtut'es f rate of Wear crfeaJPed and 18 which also lie close to the outer surfaces in it will be held within entirely reasonable limits. f the respective fri tion plates |5 and m and The nature of the mventlon will be Teadlly are connected with the edges of the respective understood frem the following e c p n W e plates 11 and b to revolve with them. These outread in connection With' the accompanying draW- side disks have hub sections revolving freely on s, and the novel features will be particularly the shaft 4. The friction plates l5 and iii are pointed out inthe appended claims. surfaced with clutch facing material, and means In the drawings, is provided for forcing all of these revolving ele- Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a loom beam and ments together so as to press those positively a friction driving mechanism therefor organized driven firmly against the plates l5 and it which, in accordance with thisinvention; as above mentioned, are keyed to the shaft 4.

Fig. 2 is a left-hand end View of the construc- Consequently, when this action has been protion shown in Figand duced the shaft will b picked up and revolved Fig. 3 is a vertical, sectional view taken approximately on the line 33, Fig. 1.

Preliminary to a detailed description of the construction shown in the drawings, it may be pointed out that this invention proposes to solve the problem above described by providing two friction mechanisms for driving the loom beam, one through a considerably higher speed range than the'other, and to devise means for automatithrough the frictional contact of those parts at opposite sides of the respective plates 15 and IS with these plates themselves.

The mechanism for so forcing these plates and disks together comprises a friction lever 20, Figs. 1 and 3, fulcrumed at 2| on a bracket 22 rigid with the machine frame. A weighting mechanism is provided to force the upper end of this lever toward the right including a disk-like head 23, integral with a graduated arm 23 on which weights 25 and 26 are mounted for adjustment, the head having an arm 21, Fig. 2, projecting laterally therefrom and arranged to engage the left-hand side of the upper end portion of the friction lever 20. This head 23 is mounted on a pivot stud 24, Fig. 3, to swing freely thereon.

Thus the weights 25 and 26 operate through the connections just described to force the lever 20 against the friction ring 23, Fig. l, which crowds the latter against the disk l8 and themby brings the friction mechanism into action, causing it to revolve the shaft 4 and the beam 2.

The mechanism above described is like that heretofore used, except for some certain modifications in the part 23 and its mountin provided for the purposes of this invention, but it operates in the same manner as does the prior art mechanisms to revolve the beam 2, and it has the same limitations as do the prior art constructions.

According to this invention the shaft 4 is extended to the left, as shown in Fig. l, and another friction mechanism like that above described is mounted on it but is driven at a much slower speed. This second friction drive comprises a gear 30, considerably larger than the gear 8, and driven by a much smaller gear 3| fasten the shaft 12 above referred to. The parts of this mechanism corresponding to those of the previously described friction mechanism are designated by the same, but primed, numerals, and these parts are associated with the shaft 4 in the same manner as are the parts of the first friction mechanism. Also, the lever 20, above mentioned, cooperates with a collar 28 like that shown at 28, to bring the second friction mechanism into action to drive the shaft 4 and the beam 2 when the lever is swung to the left, Fig. l.

Mechanism is provided to shift the drive automatically from the right-hand friction mechanism, Fig. 1, to the corresponding left-hand mechanism when the yarn bodyon the beam has attained approximately a predetermined diameter. Preferably this result is accomplished through the action of the press roll. That is, the machine is equipped with the usual press roll mechanism which includes a bracket 32, Figs. 1 and 3, carrying a pair of small front rolls 33 and a corresponding pair of rear rolls, these two sets of rolls supporting a larger press roll 34 which is held continuously against the peripheral surface of the yarn body on the beam during the winding operation. For this purpose the bracket 32 is mounted on an arm fixed to a square shaft 35 which projects beyond the right-hand end, Fig.

cooperates with a spring 41 to control the position of a latch or stop lever 42, pivoted at 43. During approximately the first half of the winding operation the foot 44 of an upright rack bar 45 rests on the upper end of the latch 42, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. A spring 43 encircles this rack bar and tends to force it downwardly and the rack teeth mesh with a pinion 49 fast on a shaft 41, Fig. 3, carrying the eccentric pivot pin 24.

Referring again to Fig. 3, it will be seen that as the winding operation progresses and the diameter of the yarn body on the beam 2 increases, the roll 40 will be forced downwardly, thus gradually pushing the upper end of the latch 42 outwardly, or toward the right, until it finally releases the foot 44. At this point the spring 46 forces the rack bar 45 down, thus revolving the shaft 41 through an angle of approximately 180 in a counterclockwise direction, Fig. 1, and thereby causing the eccentric pin 24 to carry the head 23 bodily to the left. Thi moves the arm or prong 21 of the head 23 out of contact with the friction lever 20, and brings the'oher arm 2'! of said head into engagement with the righthand side of said lever. Such action shifts the pressure of the lever 20 from the collar 28 to the collar 28' of the second friction mechanism, and thereby transfers the drive from the mechanism which has been performing this function to the other mechanism which, as above pointed out, is driven at a slower speed. The latter thereupon take over the function of driving the loom beam and continues to do so until the winding operation has been completed.

At this time the full beam is removed from the machine and is replaced with an empty one. When the yarn ends have been secured to the latter and the winding operation is started again, the presser roll 34 is eased up to meet the beam, thus causig the arm 33, Fig, .3, and the roll 4|] to raise the rack bar 44 to its initial position, as shown in said figure, where it is again caught and held by the latch 42. Simultaneously with this action the eccentric pin 24 is swung back in a clockwise direction into its initial position, as shown 'in Fig. 1, thus moving the arm 27 out of contact with the friction lever 23 and bringing the other arm 2'! back against the left-hand side 1, of the parts there shown; and a long lever arm of that lever, as illustrated in Fig. 1. This restores the parts to their initial relationship, with the drive for the beam on the higher speed mechanism. The cycle of operations above described is then repeated.

It will be evident from the foregoing that this invention overcomes the difiiculties experienced with the prior art drive since it divides the driving operation between the two mechanisms, one operating at a speed suited to the requirements of the building of approximately the first half of the yarn body and then automatically shifting the drive to the other mechanism which operates at a lower speed suited to the requirements of completing the winding operation. Thus the friction created in each mechanism is moderate, the wear on the friction surfaces is reduced to satisfactory values, and the shift from one to the other takes place entirely automatically without any attention on the part of the machine operator.

While I have herein shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be evident that the invention may be embodied in other forms without departing from the spirit or scope thereof.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to claim as new is:

1. In a slasher having means for supporting a loom beam for the winding thereon of the sized yarn, driving means for said beam comprising two friction mechanisms both operatively associated with said beam to revolve it, said mechanisms being so organized as to operate by variations in the degree of frictional slip to drive said beam throughout different speed ranges, one higher than the other, and mechanism for automatically shifting the drive from one of said mechanisms to the other at an intermediate point in the building of the yarn body on said beam.

2. In a slasher having means for supporting a loom beam for the winding thereon of the sized yarn, driving means for said beam comprising two friction mechanisms both operatively associated with said beam to revolve it, said mechanism being so organized as to operate by variations in the degree of frictional slip to drive said beam throughout different ranges of speed, one substantially higher than the other, and means for shifting the drive from the higher to a the lower speed mechanism automatically in response to an increase of predetermined magnitude in the diameter of the yarn body on the beam.

3. In a slasher having means for supporting a loom beam for the winding thereon of the sized yarn, driving means for said beam comprising two friction mechanisms both operatively associated with said beam to revolve it, said mechanisms being so organized as to operate by variations in the degree of frictional slip to drive said beam throughout diiferent ranges of speed, one substantially higher than the other, and mechanism for automatically shifting the drive from the higher to the lower speed mechanism when the yarn body on said beam has attained substantially a predetermined size.

4. In a slasher having means for supporting a loom beam for the winding thereon of the sized yarn, driving means for said beam comprising two friction mechanisms both operatively associated with said beam to revolve it, one at a substantially higher speed than the other, a presser roll mechanism acting on the yarn body on said beam during the winding operation to compress and compact the yarn, and means controlled by the position of the presser roll as the winding operation progresses for shifting the drive automatically from the higher to the lower speed mechanism when said yarn body has attained substantially a predetermined size.

5. In a slasher having means for supporting a loom beam for the winding thereon of the sized yarn, driving means for said beam comprising two friction mechanisms both operatively associated with said beam to revolve it, said mechanisms being so organized as to operate by variations in the degree of frictional slip to drive said beam throughout different speed ranges, one higher than the other, a control member cooperating with said mechanisms to thow either into operation, as desired, and simultaneously to throw the other out of operation, and mechanism for automatically moving said control member to shift said drive from the high speed to the low speed mechanisms at an intermediate point in the building of the yarn body on said beam.

6. In a slasher having means for supporting a loom beam for the winding thereon of the sized yarn, driving means for said beam comprising two friction mechanisms both operatively associated with said beam to revolve it throughout different speed ranges, one higher than the other, a control member cooperating with said mechanisms to throw either into operation, as desired, and simultaneously to throw the other out of operation, spring biased means for moving said control member to shift the drive from one of said mechanisms to the other, a latch restraining said spring biased means, and mechanism for automatically releasing said latch when the yarn body on said beam has attained substantially a predetermined size and thereby shifting said drive from one of said mechanisms to the other.

7. In a slasher having means for supporting a loom beam for the winding thereon of the sized yarn, driving means for said beam comprising two friction mechanisms both operatively associated with said beam to revolve it, one at a higher speed than the other, a lever operable to shift said drive from one of said mechanisms to the other, weighting means acting on said lever to produce the friction utilized in each of said mechanisms in driving the beam at either a high or low speed, and means responsive to changes in the diameter of the yarn body on said beam as the winding operation progresses to shift said lever from one position to another and thereby to change the drive from the higher speed to the lower speed.

8. In a slasher having means for supporting a loom beam for the winding thereon of the sized yarn, driving means for said beam comprising two friction mechanisms both operatively associated with said beam to revolve it throughout different speed ranges, one higher than the other, a lever mounted between said mechanisms for applying pressure to either of them, as desired, and thereby selectively bringing either into operation to drive said beam, a weighting mechanism acting on said lever to apply pressure to either mechanism, and means operable automatically in response to an increase of predetermined magnitude in the diameter of the yarn body on said beam to shift the action of said weighting mechanism from one side of said lever to the other and thereby to shift the drive of said beam from one of said mechanisms to the other.

9. In a slasher having driving means for the loom beam as defined in preceding claim 8 and includin a press roll for acting on the yarn body on said beam as the winding operation progresses to consolidate said body, a construction in which said shift of said Weighting mechanism from one side of said lever to the other is initiated by connections controlled by the position of said press roll.

ARTHUR E. SILCOX. 

